Poison and Pretenses

The Hart Industries charity event glittered. Crystal chandeliers suspended down from the ceiling and shone light on marble floors and the waiters in white gloves carried trays of expensive champagne. Elena stood quietly a velvet curtain, watching her father laugh with Liam Blackwood, with his blue tie and its knot waiting to be tightened.

Don't trust the blue tie.

The text's warning rang in her mind. Liam handed Richard a glass of amber whiskey, his smile was as smooth as poison.

This is it. The moment he kills him.

Elena's legs moved before her brain caught up. She pushed a startled waiter and he crashed into Liam, sending the whiskey glass shattering to the floor.

"Clumsy me!" she chirped, batting her lashes. "Let me get you a fresh drink!"

Liam's jaw tightened, but he kept his voice syrup-sweet. "No harm done...?"

"Elena. Elena Hart." She shook his hand and felt like breaking his fingers. The man who pushed me off a balcony. The man who laughed while I fell.

"Richard's daughter?" Liam's eyes lit with predatory interest. "I've heard so much about you," He said.

"I bet you have," She replied

She hurried to the bar, swapping the poisoned whiskey bottle with a decoy. Her hands shook, but her voice stayed steady. "Another whiskey for Mr. Blackwood, please."

The bartender nodded. Behind her, a voice drawled, "Crashing into your enemies? Bold strategy."

Adrian Voss leaned against the bar, swirling a glass of red wine. His icy blue eyes gleamed under the chandeliers, the scar on his jaw adding a jagged edge to his smirk.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Elena said.

"Of course not." He sipped his wine. "But if you're going to sabotage someone next time, maybe you shouldn't wear heels you can't run with that."

She glanced down. Her heels were a death trap. "Who says I'm running?"

Adrian's smirk deepened. Before he could say anything again, the lights dimmed. Richard Hart took the stage, raising the swapped whiskey glass.

"To innovation!" he boomed.

The crowd echoed, "To innovation!"

Elena held her breath as her father drank.

One sip. Two.

Richard frowned. "Tastes... flat."

But he didn't clutch his chest and didn't collapse.

It worked.

Liam's phone buzzed. He read the screen, his smile hardening into a sneer.

He knows.

Elena fled to the rooftop garden, her heart thundering. The moon hung low, casting long shadows over the rose bushes that smelled too sweet.

"Running again?" Adrian followed, lighting a cigarette. "You're full of contradictions, Hart. Sabotage a man, then panic when it works."

"I didn't sabotage anyone."

"Right. And I'm here for the shrimp cocktails." He blew smoke into the night. "What's your grudge against Blackwood?" He asked her.

"He's a cockroach in a suit."

Adrian laughed in a low, surprised sound. "Most heiresses stick to insults like 'vulgar' or 'unrefined.'"

"Most heiresses haven't seen their own funeral." The words slipped out. Elena froze.

Adrian stilled. "What?"

A crash echoed from inside the event room. Screams erupted.

"Elena!" Noah burst onto the roof, blood trickling from his forehead. "Your dad, he is collapsing!"

No. No, I swapped the bottle!

She sprinted back inside, Adrian ran after her. The crowd parted like a red sea, revealing Richard on the floor, gasping. Liam knelt beside him, loosening his tie.

"Call an ambulance!" Liam barked like the hero.

Elena fell to her knees. "Daaaad!"

Richard's glassy eyes locked onto hers. "You... you..."

Then he went limp.

Chaos swallowed the whole room. Paramedics pushed Elena aside as they loaded her father into the ambulance. Liam wore, a perfect mask of concern.

"He will pull through," he said, squeezing her shoulder. "Strong man, your father."

She shrugged him off. "Don't touch me."

His grip tightened and his fingers digging into her skin. "Careful, little songbird. You're making a scene."

Adrian stepped in, pulling Liam's hand away. "The lady said don't."

Liam's smile turned venomous. "This doesn't concern you, Voss."

"Everything concerns me." Adrian stepped closer like a wolf circling it prey. "Especially when idiots play with poison."

Liam face paled. "I don't know what you are...."

"Save it. Your cheap cologne's giving me a migraine." Adrian nodded to the exit. "Security is coming. I'd vanish if I were you."

Liam fled.

Elena looked at Adrian. "How did you know about the poison?"

"I didn't." He flicked cigarette ash off his sleeve. "But he reeks of guilt."

At the hospital, Elena was roaming the ICU waiting room. Nurses murmured words like induced coma and unknown toxin. Noah brought her a coffee, but she didn't drink it.

Adrian sat in a plastic chair, scrolling his phone. "He will live. Hart men are cockroaches," He said.

"Like you'd care."

"I care about the chaos this causes." He tilted his screen, news headlines showing Hart Industries CEO Poisoned! "Stock prices are plummeting. Perfect time for a hostile takeover."

Elena snatched his phone. "You are disgusting."

"Realistic." He stood, his build over her. "Your daddy's empire is a house of cards. One whisper of clones or consciousness experiments, and it crumbles."

"Clones? What do you know about clones?"

Adrian's smirk stopped. "Enough to know you're in over your head, songbird."

A doctor approached them, "Ms. Hart? He's awake."

Richard lay in a tangle of wires, his face gray. Elena approached slowly, bile rising in her throat.

"Dad?"

His eyes fluttered open. "Elena... the whiskey..."

"I know," she whispered. "I stopped it. You're safe."

"No." He gripped her wrist, surprising strength in his frail hand. "The poison... wasn't in the drink."

Her blood froze. "What?"

"The glass... Liam coated the glass." Richard coughed, machines beeping frantically. "He is smarter... than we thought."

Elena's knees buckled. I didn't save him. I failed.

"Project Echo..." Richard rasped. "Your mother... she wanted... to protect you..."

"From what?!"

But his eyes rolled back. Monitors screamed. Nurses pulled Elena out as they checked him.

In the hallway, Adrian steadied her. "Breathe, Hart."

She shoved him away. "This is your fault!"

"My fault?" He laughed bitterly. "You're the one playing time traveler. Messing with things you don't understand."

Noah stepped between them. "Back. Off."

Elena's phone buzzed. A text from Serena:

Unknown Number:

Now do you believe me?

Attached was a photo of Richard's empty whiskey glass and the bottom glazed with a faint blue residue.

Blue tie. Blue poison.

Elena sat on the floor, tears finally falling. "I can't do this."

Adrian bent beside her. "You don't have a choice."